


Lessons in Asmodian Anatomy

by creivel



Category: Aion (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Violence, Near Death Experience
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-11
Updated: 2013-02-11
Packaged: 2017-11-28 22:46:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/679716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/creivel/pseuds/creivel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She was like an Elyos, he supposed, only with many additional features.</p><p>A drabble series based around Asmodian anatomy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Claws

“So,” Tai said out of nowhere as they swung their legs over the edge of a cliff, “how do you keep your claw- eh- fingers sharp, anyway?”

Kess shrugged lightly, bringing a hand up from her side and examining the backs of her claws as Tai imagined an Elyos woman would do after a manicure.

“Oh, you see, we like to scratch the bark at the bases of trees and stuff. It helps us with our grooming and marks territory. You know, like a kitter.” She made a clawing motion at Tai while he stared blankly at her, lips parted.

“Really?” 

Kess shot him an indignant glare. “Of course not! That's just stupid.”


	2. Talons

“How do you even walk on those feet?”

Kess wondered briefly if these questions were going to become a common occurrence.

“I'm not sure I understand,” she responded flatly, lifting a foot in front of her and wiggling the trio of clawed toes, “I walk... normally.”

“For an Asmodian maybe, but it's like a permanent heeled shoe built into your foot.” He frowned as Kess purposely shook the offending talons in his direction. “I just can't imagine having feet like that.”

“Yes, well,” Kess growled as she stood back up straight. “You never had to forcibly evolve because the surface of your environment was too rough for your squishy flesh.”


	3. Mane

To be fair, Kess had warned Tai early about her tendency to latch onto any available soft object as she slept (“have to keep warm somehow,” she explained, “it's instinct”). He just never expected her to pass out so easily and for the object to be _himself._

He shifted, not at all worrying about waking the woman and instead concerned abut the state of his arm, which was tingling uncomfortably from her weight. He tugged it free and rolled his fingers into a fist, cringing. Kess murmured something foreign in her sleep and burrowed her face into the crook of his neck, her claws digging into his tunic.

Tai went to wrap his arm around her back to better support them both when his palm brushed against her mane. It startled him a bit; they didn't usually sit close together and he wasn't entirely used to the differences of the other race yet. Against his better judgment, he delicately ran his fingers down Kess' spine, finding the mane's texture to be more of plush animal fur than of human hair. “Huh,” he thought aloud, “it's soft.”

“Well it should be.”

Her voice startled Tai and sent him sprawling backwards, scrambling away in embarrassment while she sat and stared at him, looking genuinely offended.

“Honestly, Tai. I might be a gladiator, but I _am_ a lady.”


	4. Eyes

Asmodians are deadly in the shadows. This is a fact that was etched into Tai's mind from long ago and has remained true through his lifetime. They lived within constant darkness. They were built to survive and _thrive_ without the warm sunlight the Elyos were blessed with.

Tai knew he was useless in the dark. Unless he conjured up some sort of fire, he was blind and paranoid. His eyes could adjust to the dark, sure, but he could never truly _see_ in it. He was an Elyos, and his kind lived in the light.

He wasn't used to having a friend who didn't.

The fall had been severe; his wings clipped the sharp branches of dead trees when he had attempted to glide his way into the bottom of a pit, and sent him hurtling to the ground in pain. His body snapped on impact, hard enough to completely paralyze him in place but not hard enough to kill him and send him back to his kisk. He was trapped, vulnerable, badly wounded, and absolutely worst of all, hidden in shadows.

His heart plummeted when he saw a familiar set of red lights flicker above him, wondering how this particular Asmodian would choose to kill him. Maybe they would stand and laugh at his position for a while before skewering him through the torso with a massive blade. Maybe they would simply set him on fire and watch him burn away, screaming.

He closed his eyes and licked his lips, ignoring the thick taste of blood in his mouth, and listened to gentle flap of wings and heels tapping on stone.

“Tai? You still with me?”

His eyes snapped open, meeting Kess' gaze and squinting at the red haze of light igniting her already bright irises. She visibly relaxed when he moved, relieved he wasn't unconscious, and she momentarily turned away to dig through a pouch attached to her thigh.

“Hang on just a second. I have some bandages and potions in here somewhere...”

Tai watched her attempt at healing, taking in the details of her face under the cast of a gentler glow from her eyes. How did the Asmodians see in the dark? Was it like wearing a pair of glasses with tinted lenses, or is the crimson color superficial? Could they control the amount of light they emit? Maybe Kess seeing in Asmodae was no different than seeing Elysea was for him.

When Kess cradled his head in her lap and hissed at him to stop rambling nonsense and drink the damn potion, he was never more happy that she was a creature built for darkness.


	5. Skin

It took Tai only several months to realize why Kess was so against taking a trip to Elysea, as opposed to Tai braving the cold and darkness to visit her.

Initially he thought it was because of the light; Asmodian eyes must have been overly sensitive to it and it would be painful to adjust. Maybe their skin was too pale and they would burn too quickly under the light of the nearby sun. Maybe it was too humid and their manes would be a mess to clean the sweat and dirt out of later.

It was the second time Kess had met with Tai through a rift, the first time she had willingly, although disdainfully, ventured into the sunlight, squinting the entire way as Tai lead her through a grassy plateau hugging the border of a desert.

There was no warning, Kess didn't make a single sound that might have warned him of what was to come. Instead he heard vague shuffling from behind him and a thump as the woman dropped face-first into the ground, limply as though she were a puppet whose strings had been cut.

Panic strangled Tai as he rushed down to her side, lifting her carefully (Asmodian plate armor was notorious for being as riddled with sharp edges as it was difficult to pierce) upward and rolling her onto her back. Her pale gray-purple skin was flushed with an unhealthy red, only a small layer of sweat gathering at her brow. Tai touched her forehead with the back of his hand and hissed, quickly withdrawing the appendage, as he was met with blistering heat.

Of _course._

She's built for the cold and dark. Her skin is tough and her blood a higher natural temperature than Elyos, perfect for insulation of body heat to keep her warm even in the most bitterly frozen environments. She probably never had to ever cool herself down while in Asmodae.

In Elysea, she was a living furnace. Suffering silently, literally cooking to death under her armor and _she didn't even say anything--_

Tai summoned ice magic with ease, pressing a chilled hand gently to her cheek while the air around them began to cool. Stupid, stupid, _stupid._

“Why didn't you tell me? I wouldn't have let you come here if I knew you'd get heat stroke.” Tai mumbled mostly to himself as Kess stirred, groaning and pressing her face into the cloth on his chest.

“Didn't know how,” she grumbled weakly, “-hate this place. Too bright. Too hot. Just kill me now. Lemme go back to my place.” She halfheartedly batted at his knee with a clawed hand, likely in a sad attempt to taunt him into a rage.

“That would be the easy way out, yes, but I'd rather not have to murder you.” Kess snorted.

“Pansy.”


End file.
